DESIRE’ THOMAS

THE BOTTOM LINE HAS EVOLVED

I had a conversation with my mentor Emmanuel Sir Bonoko who is the founder of E-Bonoko Holdings and also Forbes 30 under 30 most promising entrepreneurs. He has been adding value to society since he was a teenager, and those years of selfless service have taught him valuable lessons. Which he took the time to discuss and analyze them with me over coffee.

If you were to ask any entrepreneur why a huge corporate would work with them or what it would take, they would mention important things such experience, a good proposal, good financial planning and excellent systems and process. This being the case, I have no doubt how important a proven case study is when talking to clients about new business and building relationships. You need to know what you are talking about and show them what can do.

Yet another important aspect of business that we tend to neglect is the ability to present ourselves in a way that a client can clearly say to you, I will give you this money that you need because I trust you with this money. So trust is an ancient commodity that has been shadowed by great ideas and promising visions. But in order for your idea to hit the ground running you should have an element of trust between you and stakeholders.

Yes trust is earned, so how do you really earn this trust? Before I go into that I want to highlight what Jack Ma the richest man in China said about trust, and I will paraphrase, he said when you are a billionaire it is not a sign of power or genius but an indication of how much the general public trusts you. So this validates trust as commodity, a billion people will support a product or service in which they have trust in. Think about it, how many people trust you with their money?

In order to develop trust you should have discipline, honesty and integrity. I do not expect to trust you with my money if I see you posting pictures on social media with expensive bottles of alcohol or expensive cars. You appear as someone who is more invested in liabilities, and as a sober entrepreneur I would rather put my money towards a vision led by an asset acquiring individual.

Assets are anything from property, stocks, good business investments, and the list goes on. But the one important asset that I look into is how you are adding value to society? How are you changing the way in which poor people live, are you investing in free medical service, education, housing, food etc.

The public will trust you if they see you adding value to other people. I want to challenge each and every entrepreneur to adopt a new way of thinking, realize that the bottom line in business have evolved from just profits, its human centric, the bottom is: how is what you are doing going to positively impact the life of an African Child.

Take up this challenge and let’s leave this place better than we found it… because what we do, will echo for eternity.